EMAIL BASICS

By Pa Ali Nyang
Adapted from the Huntington Beach Public Library Presentation
What is email?
▪ Short for electronic mail
▪ Send & receive messages over the internet
What you need
▪ A computer with internet access
▪ An email account with a service provider such
as Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc
Choosing an Email Provider

▪ Most common are Hotmail (Microsoft), Gmail

(Google), Yahoo Mail (Yahoo!)
▪ For this training, we’ll be using Gmail
Setting Up Your Email Account

▪ Parts of an email address: lamin@gmail.com

• user name : lamin (you create your own) (each is
unique)
• @ symbol : unique to email addresses (Shift key + 2)
• email provider’s name: gmail
• domain : .org (yours will be .com)
Password
▪ Something easy to remember, but difficult to guess
⮚ Do NOT use sensitive information, such as SSN, bank
PIN, etc.
▪ Usually a combination of letters and numbers is
best
▪ Verification questions in case you forget your
password
The Parts of an Email
▪ To : enter the exact email address of your recipient
(remember: name@provider.domain)
⮚ For multiple recipients, separate each address with a comma

▪ CC : carbon copy
▪ BCC : BLIND carbon copy – is anonymous
▪ Subject : the topic of your email – very important
▪ Body : the message of your email
▪ Attachments : the paperclip symbol - files or photos
Sending an Email
• Communication can be tough with written correspondence.
⮚ No body language or facial cues to help.

• Err on the side of too formal emails

⮚ Punctuation & spelling
⮚ Greeting & closing signature

• ATTACH a file from the hard drive or flash drive

• Click on SEND to mail your message
• Message will now appear in your SENT folder
Sending an Email

• Once an email is sent, you cannot stop it

or take it back
• Spell-check & proofread!
Draft Emails & Saving for Later

• Drafts:
⮚ When creating an e-mail, the computer will
automatically save your work periodically.
⮚ If for any reason you should be interrupted
(i.e. lapse in internet connection) you can
retrieve your latest work in the DRAFT BOX.
Receiving Email
• At the top of each message is a header with information
about the sender, date, and routing of each message.
From: lamin@gmail.com (Lamin)
To: you@yahoo.com
CC:
Subject: Email Basics class
Date: Mon, 31 May 2021 8:31 GMT
Replying to an Email
• Reply vs Reply All

⮚ When you click on Reply, your message will automatically be

sent to the person who sent you the email (FROM field in
header.)

⮚ When you click on Reply All, your message will automatically

be sent to the person who sent you the email AND everyone
in the TO and CC fields in the header.
Forwarding an Email
• When you click on FORWARD, you may share the email you’ve
received by sending it to others.

• You may add your own message before sending.

Opening Attachments

• Usually photos or documents

• If you don’t know the sender, do NOT open the
attachment!
• SAVE vs OPEN file dialog box
Deleting Email & Trash Can
• Once you’ve read an email, you must decide if you want to
save it or delete it.

• Click on delete to send the email to the TRASH

• The message disappears from your list of messages but is not

truly deleted yet, so if you make a mistake you can get the
message back.

• Just look in the Trash folder.

Netiquette
• Common abbreviations
• Emoticons aka smilies
Privacy, Viruses, & Spam
• Privacy: CC vs BCC
• Viruses: Never open attachments from unknown senders.
• Safety: Never send personal financial information via email,
even if it looks like a legitimate request from your bank or
financial institution.
• Spam: unsolicited commercial email
Delete
Click on Report Spam
SPAM BOX on Gmail
 Chatting

▪ This is real-time communication with no delay.

▪ Usually done with those you know online.
▪ Be selective who you chat with.
▪ As with spam and phishing, scams can occur with chatting as
well.
Let’s Set Up Our Accounts!
• Anyone without an email address?
Let’s Compose An Email!
Part 1

▪ Compose an email to your colleague sitting next to you.

▪ Attach a sample document.
▪ Send

Part 2

▪ Reply to the email.

▪ Forward it to the class
▪ Reply to All to the email send to the class.
Important – Sign Out!
 The End!!!

Any Questions?
References

• https://elibrarywcl.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/email-basi
cs.ppt